Published May 1, 2018
Graphic Design by Camille Tyler.
The University of Louisiana Monroe Water Ski team will host the National Collegiate
Water Ski All Stars tournament on May 12-13, 2018, on historic Bayou DeSiard.
The tournament features the 10 best men and women skiers from across the U.S. in each
of the events of slalom, trick and jump. Instead of competing as individual schools,
the teams are composed of skiers based on their region.
The event will start at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, but spectators are encouraged to arrive
around 2 p.m.
Bayou DeSiard was the site of the first-ever Water Ski Collegiate Nationals in 1979.
The team also hosted the nationals tournament in 1983, 1990 and 1998, along with numerous
regional tournaments over the 40-year history of the team. The All Stars is the first
national-level water ski tournament hosted in Monroe in 20 years.
“The team really wanted to bring a national collegiate water ski tournament back to
the bayou, but nationals now requires a site with two lakes, and we only have one,”
explains team coach Joey McNamara. “All Stars is the closest thing we can do to bring
nationals back to Monroe.”
ULM team members will compete for the South Central Region with skiers from LSU, Texas
A&M, Texas State, Oklahoma State, University of Arkansas, University of Texas, Baylor
and even the team’s rival, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
The South Central region will compete against the other three regions, West, Midwest
and Eastern region. The Midwest has won the tournament for the last four years with
the South Central placing second last year.
“All Stars is a great format that gives our team members an opportunity to give back
the sport we all love, but share our hometown of Monroe with the rest of the water
ski world,” says McNamara. “
“Many of our ULM skiers grew up skiing with these skiers from other schools or we
have met them at tournaments,” explains McNamara. “We all learned to separate what
happens on the water with what happens off. Tournaments like All Stars remind us why
we do what we do and it's a great opportunity to share the historic Bayou DeSiard
with a generation that hasn’t gotten to experience it.”
For more information, please contact Joey McNamara or check out the event page,www.bit.ly/allstars_fbevent
2017-2018 ULM Water Ski Team (left to right). Front: Emma Brunel, Siani Oliver, Sasha
Danisheuskaya, Hanna Straltsova, Katerina Svecova, Lieke Rolvers, and Alex King. Middle:
Michael Woodgate, Tom Poole, Ricky Downs, Joey McNamara. Back: Danylo Filchenko, Sara
Westerlund, Tycho Hof, and Brandon Schipper.
